Kerry Healey on Immigration

Opposes in-state tuition for illegal immigrants

HEALEY: A lot of people are struggling to pay for college for their kids. If we have enough money to give the equivalent of a $40,000 scholarship to someone who is not in the country legally than we should use that money to lower tuition for the kids who are citizens who have been paying taxes into this system. I think its wrong to give in- state tuition to illegal immigrants and I will continue to oppose that.

Urges Attorney General to investigate hiring illegals

HEALEY: You know it's good that you ask that question, we have been urging the Attorney General to do just that. That's his job as AG, to get in there and do that and we've been asking him to do that.

MIHOS: So zero.

Opposes issuing licenses to illegal immigrants

HEALEY: I do oppose issuing licenses to illegal immigrants because that is your most basic form of identification here in America. If you have that card you can get on an airplane, you can go to another state, you can disappear into society. I could not disagree more with Deval Patrick on this topic. I think that that drivers license has real meaning and it's very dangerous to give it to illegal immigrants.

Called for deportation in'05; now says can't deport them all

Healey also appeared to soften her previous position on undocumented immigrants. "If there are people here who have the potential to become good productive American citizens, who are going to pay taxes and obey the laws, let's figure out a way of figuring out who they are and perhaps allowing them to stay under some circumstances," she said. "We have to deal with the people who are here," she added. "We can't deport them all.

In November, Healey took a harder line, saying flatly that undocumented immigrants and their children should be deported. "They are illegal immigrants, who need to be returned to the countries from which they came," she said.

A nation of immigrants, but also a nation of laws

I support legal immigration. Our nation was built by men and women seeking a better life. In America, if you play by the rules, if you work hard, you are limited only by your dreams. But, unfortunately, not everyone comes here legally. There are some foreigners who arrive on our shores without going through the normal channels. As much as we may sympathize with their desire to be here, they are violating federal law.

Illegal immigrants are breaking law and have no entitlements

Opposes in-state tuition rates for illegal immigrants

The thing is, Healey happens to be right. There is nothing in state law that bars illegal immigrants from going to college, provided they can pay their way. When Massachusetts taxpayers object to subsidizing the tuition for students who are not legal residents of the commonwealth or the country, it is not "mean-spirited." A student whose parents crossed the border illegally would get a better deal at UMass than a student born and raised in Rhode Island. That's wrong.

Illegal immigrants should not be here

"She's totally out of touch," Reilly said of Healey. "These are kids that just want a chance."

Healey fired back, saying: "Tom Reilly is the one who is out of touch with working families of Massachusetts if he thinks they want their tax dollars to pay for illegal immigrants to go to college."

Deval Patrick also supports the bill. "Denying kids who qualify in every other way to be an in-state student is unfair," Patrick said. "We shouldn't be trying to erect barriers." Nine other states have laws that allow illegal immigrants to attend state colleges at resident rates.

A nation of immigrants, but also a nation of laws